Preparing a Woodie - Paul Sellers

**Robson Valley** · 6th June 2014, 12:43 PM

How true, IanW, how true.

There are half a dozen? different ways to get to a carving sharp edge.
If there is any single hint from what I write that gets a carver on their way, so be it.

The key thing is to pick a method. Study, try and learn. Many nights, I have gone to bed with dull edges and not knowing why. I give you all my answers to those puzzles.

I made a dramatic shift from conventional = european, carving tools to the magnificent elbow adzes and crooked knives of the native carvers of our Pacific Northwest Coast.

They are not the be-all and end-all to carving. But, they are dang good at doing far more cuts than I ever realized. And probably never will! There is some interesting engineering in the handle shapes (55* or 45* ?) and the 'Holm Constant" in elbow adze handle design.

It's been a satisfying journey to blunder along. Some day, I hope to come back to the surface and attempt to describe what I have learned. It has been one Hello of a lot more than I imagined.

**seanz** · 7th June 2014, 06:31 PM

That was well worth watching. Ok, I skipped over the sharpening bit just a little (how could I possibly not be in the mood to watch a plane iron sharpening video?) but the iron setting instructions at the end were excellent.

**Robson Valley** · 11th June 2014, 07:56 AM

I got an introductory wood carving course as a gift, many years ago.
What I do is what I was taught. Yes, it took time to become competent.

It's a fact that there must be at least 1/2 dozen different styles(?) to go about the
business of edge management for any wood working tools. What I continue to do
seemed to work for me, right from the start.

Most importantly, pick one of them. Take the time and use your patience to learn it.
I had to start over to sharpen crooked knives! Many times puzzled about the dull edge that I could not coax into carving condition. Not to give up, but to figure out what to do.

**seanz** · 11th June 2014, 10:00 AM

Just bought my first crooked knife so any tips or link would be welcome.

And I agree about "pick one" when it comes to sharpening. I picked oilstones, maybe not the 'best' but it works well enough for me.

Thread: Preparing a Woodie - Paul Sellers

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Similar Threads

More Paul Sellers

Paul Sellers on Saws

Semi-modern Saw handles - Paul Sellers

Veneer sellers?

best sellers?

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions